All,

Is there a high quality fall ball league for the 18 and under crew ? Our Legion boys that are in college will be playing in thier fall programs but our juniors and seniors are looking for a place to play and we would like to get a head start on looking at some of the potential players to add to our roster in the spring. That along with helping them understand the "legion way" and our coaching philosophy.

We have coached in "fall" leagues before but are looking for something that is actually challenging to some very talented players...We think most will shy away because the competition will be nothing like summer ball...

Does anyone have any ideas ?

I have never heard of a fall ball league.

When I was involved in fall baseball, about 10-15 years ago, we used to try and schedule real good competition and play in 2 or 3 tournaments. We would play the Oriolanders, some local junior colleges, and head down south for some tournaments at Old Dominion and places like that. We later started working with other local fall ball teams to team up and invite a couple clubs down from New York for the weekend. We would each play one of the teams a DHer on Saturday, and then flip flop on Sunday. We'd invite Bayside Yankees, Brooklyn Youth Services or South Troy Dodgers.

Fall ball is a tough one....i.e., players are tired (been playing since Jan/Feb), some ball players move on to football and other sports, and others hust want time off .... or, if they play on a Fall team..they don't really take it seriously.

Having said that, the Fall ball that I have observed is generally mediocre at best, but does offer a chance to continue to work out and get reps in game situations.

Other than that, Fall travel teams (O'landers, Mid Atlantic Red Sox, Mid Atlantic Mets) offer the best chance to play against the best competition.

that sounds about what we have experienced over the years...A lot of our kids are going to skip fall sports and work out, condition, and prepare for next spring...They are looking for a chance to get some game time in during the fall...

We are looking at setting up games against some local college programs and some travel teams to get the kids some extra reps...Looks like that might be the best path to take...

I always loved fall ball. It was relaxed and gave coaches and players a real chance to try some new things with little or no pressure. The weather was generally nice and you played Fri-Sun. I can't tell you how great it felt about 8:30 on a Friday night up in Taneytown, with the dugout full of players and the cool nights air blowing.

And we used to keep a larger than usual roster so kids could take weekends off if they didn't want to be there all the time. It was really a good experience.

And weekend fall ball is a great time for college coaches to check out some players.

Check out both DYNAMIC and IMPACT tournament schedules for the fall.

See if NVTBL will bring you in at the ODL or Varsity I level. If you cannot do weeknights due to distance, see if you can do Sat and/or Sunday doubleheaders (NVTBL has several D.C. area Maryland teams as well as VA teams from as far out as Fauquier and Stafford Counties, so is used to bringing in teams from fairly far out).